There are many lessons Swansea could learn from their defeat to Leeds but one of the main ones is how to react after losing possession.

Wednesday night's match at Elland Road proved Leeds are top of the Championship and chasing promotion on merit.

Swansea were hindered by the absence of key players through injury but the gulf in class between the two sides was still clear to see. Just in case watching the match didn't prove this point enough, the stats also show the Yorkshiremen were by far the better side.

The home team dominated proceedings, creating more chances, making more passes and having 200 more touches of the ball.

Swansea's pass success rate is the best in the division but Leeds hammered them in this department too and for the Swans, one of the Championship's top possession hogs, to only have 39 per cent of the ball is nearly unheard of under Graham Potter.

But the stats which really stand out are the defensive ones. Leeds made more than twice as many tackles as Swansea, they made 50 per cent more interceptions and dispossessed Swansea 17 times, while the Swans only dispossessed Leeds six times in the entire 90 minutes. Leeds made 73 ball recoveries compared to Swansea's 56.

These are absurd defensive statistics for a team which dominated possession throughout and it reflects the different approaches and the difference in class between the two teams when they lost the ball.

Whenever any Swansea player won the ball they would invariably be swamped by two, sometimes three Leeds players. The pressing wasn't just high-energy, it was also very well structured and as a result it was seriously successful.

If any Swansea player managed to get past the first man they'd struggle to escape the clutches of the second and they definitely wouldn't beat the third.

Any time a Swansea player won possession he'd have a crowd of white shirts bearing down on him. There would be instant pressure, the Swans players often didn't have time to think and it made it so difficult to retain the ball.

It was like watching a pack of wild dogs hounding its prey.

This could not have contrasted more sharply with Swansea's approach. Whenever a Swan lost the ball his team-mates' first instinct was usually to back off and get back into position. For any Leeds player who got on the ball the most he would have to deal with was one opponent chasing him.

This made it pretty easy for Leeds to keep possession. They usually had a fair amount of space and very little pressure to deal with.

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Pressing has become a major part of the modern game. It's no coincidence that the top two in the Premier League, Manchester City and Liverpool, are also probably the two best pressing sides in the Premier League.

At Barcelona Pep Guardiola introduced the six second rule. On the rare occasions when his side would lose the ball his players had six seconds to retrieve it.

At Borussia Dortmund Jurgen Klopp developed his famous gegenpressing style where he demanded that players hunt in packs to put pressure on opponents as soon as possession is lost.

Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa has always had a similar approach. His Athletic Bilbao team was brilliant at it, his Chile team were also fantastic without possession.

He always demands a rapid transition from attack to defence and this means players don't back off, they instantly adopt a high-energy, high-intensity stance which sees them assert pressure on the opposition.

Bielsa probably takes pressing to extremes. He's regularly been criticised for the physical toll his tactics have on players. His approach tends to exhaust his squads before they even reach the crunch end of the campaign. Bielsa's methods have been blamed by many for the club's injury problems this season but they've nonetheless sustained their good form.

Nobody expects Swansea to press like Leeds but it wouldn't hurt for them to be a bit less passive when they lose possession.

Swansea's pressing statistics this season have been pretty poor but this is quite clearly a tactic of Potter's. High and concentrated pressing isn't his thing and he's more comfortable sitting back and protecting Erwin Mulder's goal with organised defensive lines.

By sending several players to hurry and hassle the opposition there is a risk of leaving space in behind, which is presumably why Potter chooses not to press as much.

Pressing isn't for everybody, Swansea certainly aren't the only side in the Championship who prefer to sit back rather than chase the opposition, but looking at the goals Swansea have conceded this season, it may be worth experimenting a bit.

Excluding set pieces, nearly two out of every five goals conceded by Swansea this season have been scored with seven or more Swansea players in the box. By backing away from the opposition Swansea often run the risk of inviting attacks and thus inviting pressure on themselves.

Perhaps there's room for variation. Sheffield United have had a great season so far and sit just outside the top two. They don't play the kind of persistent pressing game employed by Leeds or indeed Norwich in second, instead they mix it up.

At times in games they will defend as Swansea do, backing off and trying to hold a disciplined defensive structure. However they'll often press higher up the pitch and put more pressure on the team in possession.

The Blades' approach may be the one to consider. It's unpredictable and doesn't sap energy like Bielsa's tactics.

Developing an effective pressing game takes time so it's unreasonable to expect a change of style this season but Swansea's current approach looks old-fashioned and judging by the teams leading the way in the Championship, it's not as effective as the alternative.